[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 2 (Monday, January 13, 1997)]
[Pages 22-27]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Presenting the Arts and Humanities Awards

January 9, 1997

    Thank you very much. When Hillary said that, I was so hoping that 
there wouldn't be even one loud stage whisper saying, ``I wish he had 
made that choice.'' [Laughter]
    I am so delighted to be here to honor the 1996 recipients of the 
National Medal of the Arts and the Charles Frankel Prize. They are men 
and women whose accomplishments speak to the breadth and depth of our 
creative and intellectual genius.
    I want to begin by thanking Jane Alexander, Sheldon Hackney, Diane 
Frankel, and John Brademas for their energetic and wise leadership in 
promoting the arts and humanities across our country. I thank them for 
what they have done. This cold day is a rather apt metaphor for a lot of 
what they have labored through the last couple of years, and we are all 
in their debt for standing firm.
    I thank the United States Marine Band for being here. I'm always so 
proud of them and the work they do for our country. I thank the 
magnificent Harlem Boys Choir for their wonderful music and for being 
here. All of you who are supporters of the arts who are here, I thank 
you for being here, supporters of the humanities. I see Secretary and 
Mrs. Riley and Congressman Dicks and Congressman Rangel. There may be 
other Members here; I apologize for not introducing you, but for those 
of you in other positions of public responsibility, in particular, I 
thank you for standing up for the arts and humanities.
    Each year this ceremony gives us an opportunity to celebrate the 
extraordinary contributions of individual American artists, writers, and 
thinkers, to reflect on the role of the arts and humanities in our own 
lives and in the life of our great democracy. We are a nation whose 
strength and greatness are derived from the rich heritage and diversity 
of our people, from the richness of our artistic and intellectual 
traditions.
    For more than 200 years, our freedom has depended not only upon our 
system of government and the resolve of our people but upon the ferment 
of ideas that shape our public discourse and on the flow of creative 
expression that unites us as a people.
    Today we are on the eve of a new century. The arts and humanities 
are more essential than ever to the endurance of our democratic values 
of tolerance, pluralism, and freedom and to our understanding of where 
we are and where we need to go. At a momentous time in our history like 
this, when so much is happening to change the way we work and live, the 
way we relate to one another, and the way we relate to the rest of the 
world, we cannot fully understand the past, nor envision the future we 
need to pursue, without the arts and humanities.
    It is, after all, through the arts and humanities that we unleash 
our individual and collective imaginations. And imagination is, in the 
end, the animating force of a democracy committed to constant renewal, 
the force that allows us to conceive of a brighter future and a better 
world, that allows us to overcome new challenges and grave difficulties. 
By imagining a better America and acting to achieve it, we make our 
greatest progress.
    That is why we must sustain our Nation's commitment for the arts and 
humanities to build that bridge to the 21st century I am so committed 
to. We must have our theaters, our orchestras, our dance troupes, our 
exhibits, our lectures, our scholarship. We must have them all to 
strengthen and preserve our culture and instill in our children the 
democratic ideals we claim to cherish. And we must have them so that our 
young people can imagine what their lives might be like if they were 
better. For all the speeches I might give, the children struggling to 
overcome difficult circumstances, simply seeing

[[Page 23]]

the powerful example of the Harlem Boys Choir is probably more 
persuasive than any words I could ever utter.
    Today the average American spends about 80 cents to support Federal 
funding of the arts and humanities, about as much as it costs to buy a 
can of soda pop in a vending machine. In some places it costs more than 
that. [Laughter] This tiny investment means that from Providence to 
Portland, from Minneapolis to Miami, from Dallas to Des Moines, 
Americans of all walks of life can share in the great artistic and 
intellectual life of our Nation.
    In America, we should all be able to enjoy art, ideas, and culture, 
no matter what our station in life. And our children should be able to 
be exposed to them, no matter what their station in life. For children, 
Federal support of the arts and humanities is particularly critical. 
Think of how often we hear stories about children who, unable to find 
safe outlets for their ideas, their emotions, their enormous physical 
energy, travel instead down the wrong road to destruction and despair. 
But across our Nation, Federal support to the arts and humanities has 
enabled tens of thousands of those children to see their first play, 
their first ballet, their first Monet. What a transforming experience it 
can be when a young person discovers his or her own gifts for music, for 
dance, for painting, for drama, for poetry, photography, or writing.
    One man who knows firsthand about the power of art to change young 
people's lives is the artist who designed the medal that some of our 
honorees will receive today. Bob Graham is one of our Nation's finest 
sculptors. After the Los Angeles riots, he decided to hire inner-city 
gang members as assistants and apprentices in his studio in southern 
California. These young men have recharted their futures and found that 
instead of feeling alienated by society, they are now valued for the 
contributions they are making to society.
    The earlier we start developing these creative impulses for artistic 
and intellectual potential, the better off our children and we will be. 
As Hillary wrote in her book, we know a great deal more today about the 
importance of providing such stimulation for children in the very first 
years of life. We know how important it is for children to hear words, 
listen to stories, develop their imaginations. That's one reason I'm 
challenging all of our people to work with us toward a goal of making 
sure every boy and girl in our country can read a book independently by 
the third grade.
    Perhaps no one has done as much to show the power of the written 
word on children, not to mention on their parents, as Maurice Sendak, 
one of our honorees today. I'm delighted that he will join Hillary 
tomorrow at the Georgetown University Medical Center to read to children 
who are getting their checkups there. And I thank them both to help to 
kick off a national effort to educate Americans about reading even to 
our very youngest children.
    For the better part of this century, the world has looked to the 
United States not simply for military and economic and political 
leadership but for cultural leadership as well. So as we embark upon 
this new century, let us make sure that our Nation remains the cultural 
oasis it is today. I am optimistic about our prospects because of the 
commitment and the dedication of those of you who are gathered here and 
because our Nation is honored and blessed by the artists and thinkers we 
recognize today.
    In an age when words and images and ideas are too often diluted, 
devalued, and distorted, when what we see and hear is routinely reduced 
to catch phrases and instant images, the men and women on this stage 
represent instead the profound, lasting, and transcendent qualities of 
American cultural life.
    Now it gives me great pleasure to present the 1996 National Medal of 
Arts Awards and the Charles Frankel Prize. First, the men and women 
being awarded the National Medal of Arts.
    Last month we paid tribute to our first honoree at the Kennedy 
Center, and I'm proud to honor him again. For some 40 years, playwright 
Edward Albee has been a dominate and inspirational figure in American 
theater. His plays offer raw and provocative portrayals of the human 
experience. He has challenged actors, audiences, and fellow writers to 
explore the complexities of our emotions, attitudes, and relationships. 
A native

[[Page 24]]

of Washington, DC, he won the Pulitzer Prize three times for ``A 
Delicate Balance,'' ``Seascape,'' and most recently for ``Three Tall 
Women.'' I ask you to join me in congratulating Edward Albee. [Applause]

[At this point, the President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Albee 
and presented the medal.]

    Audiences from Russia to the Philippines to our own shores have 
experienced firsthand conductor Sarah Caldwell's passion for music and 
her commitment to bring some of our world's most difficult, yet 
beautiful, operas to the stage. Sarah Caldwell has dedicated her life to 
promoting and introducing opera to new audiences here and around the 
world. She conducted her first opera at Tanglewood in 1947, founded the 
Boston Opera 10 years later, and went on to become the first woman ever 
to conduct the New York Metropolitan Opera. She is truly opera's First 
Lady. And if you will forgive me a small amount of parochialism, she has 
come a long way from our native State of Arkansas--[laughter]--and I am 
very proud of her.

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Ms. Caldwell and 
presented the medal.]

    A photographer whose work has inspired both peers and casual viewers 
and a teacher whose ideas and methods have influenced university 
curricula, Harry Callahan is a national treasure. More than 50 years 
ago, he discovered the camera's power to capture the sublime and 
seemingly everyday subjects: nature, the city, and people. His subtle, 
contemplative pictures convey an intensely personal vision of the world. 
They have graced photography exhibitions in some of the finest museums 
around the world. A native of Detroit, his work reminds us that there is 
always much more than meets the eye.

[President Clinton and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Callahan and 
presented the medal.]

    I'm delighted to honor a woman who has spent some four decades 
creating and nurturing one of the leading artistic institutions in our 
Nation's Capital. The Arena Stage is a living legacy of the vision, the 
talent, and the creative energies of Zelda Fichandler. The Arena is one 
of our country's leading regional theaters and under her leadership has 
brought plays such as ``Inherit the Wind,'' ``After the Fall,'' and 
``The Crucible'' to audiences in Russia, Hong Kong, and Israel. In 1976, 
she and the Arena became the first company based outside New York to win 
a Tony.

[President Clinton and the First Lady congratulated Ms. Fichandler and 
presented the medal.]

    Thank you very much for all you have done.
    Musician, composer, and bandleader Eduardo (Lalo) Guerrero has spent 
a creative life celebrating and exploring his Mexican-American heritage 
in music from mariachis to orchestra pieces. An Arizona native, he began 
his career while still in his teens, composing what later became the 
unofficial anthem of Mexico. In the 60 years since, he has been prolific 
and inspired, composing songs that have topped the charts on both sides 
of the border. In 1980, the Smithsonian Institution named him a national 
folk treasure. And we are honored to honor him today.

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Guerrero, and 
presented the medal.]

    He still has his salsa, you see. [Laughter]
    First, let me say that we are glad to see Lionel Hampton here safe 
and sound. A legendary bandleader, singer, and the first musician to 
make a vibraphone sing and swing, he has been delighting jazz audiences 
for over half a century. Anyone who has ever heard his music knows that 
he is much more than a performer; he is a pioneer. When Louis Armstrong 
invited him to play the vibraphones at a recording session in 1936, he 
realized he had found his calling. He mastered the vibes quickly and 
performed the first jazz vibraphone solo ever recorded. In 1936 he 
joined the Benny Goodman Trio, but soon he formed his own band and over 
the years has nurtured the talents of many jazz leaders, including 
Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington. He is a lion of American music, and 
he still makes the vibraphone sing.

[[Page 25]]

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Hampton and 
presented the medal.]

    Dancer, choreographer, and teacher, Bella Lewitzky first began 
creating dances in her hometown of Redlands, California, when she was 
just 7 years old. With Lester Horton, she founded the Dance Theater of 
Los Angeles in 1946. Twenty years later, she formed the Lewitzky Dance 
Company, a troupe that has performed to critical acclaim around the 
world. Now in her 80th year, when it would be just as easy to rest upon 
her well-deserved laurels, she is eagerly looking to start new projects, 
and I hope all of you have inspired her here today.

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Ms. Lewitzky and 
presented the medal.]

     
    Vera List has touched generations of students, teachers, artists, 
performers, audiences, and artistic institutions across America. For 
more than half a century, she has lent her vision, energy, and resources 
to philanthropic efforts to promote the arts at universities, museums, 
and through artistic endowments. The charitable foundation that she and 
her husband Albert created in 1945 helped to underwrite the construction 
of the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center more than three 
decades ago. She has sponsored an opera performance for under-privileged 
children, PBS broadcasts highlighting the American artist, and many 
other varied and worthy arts projects. She has done what private 
citizens must do if we are going to bring the arts to all the American 
people, and we thank her for it.

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Ms. List and presented 
the medal.]

    We would be hard-pressed to find any American who doesn't recognize 
Robert Redford as one of our Nation's most acclaimed actors, directors, 
and producers. He won an Academy Award for Best Director for ``Ordinary 
People.'' He's won numerous other awards and made wonderful movies. The 
most important thing to me about Robert Redford is that he could have 
been well satisfied to be a movie superstar but instead chose an 
entirely different life, because for years and years and years, he has 
supported and encouraged many young and emerging screenwriters and 
directors to the Sundance Institute in Utah. He's helped to promote 
nontraditional cinema. He's opened the doors for many new artists and 
their films. I can say also, in an area not covered by today's awards, 
he has been a passionate advocate of preserving our natural heritage and 
protecting our environment. And the Vice President and I were honored to 
have him with us at the Grand Canyon a few months ago when we set aside 
1.7 million acres to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 
southern Utah, a cause that he pressed for for years and years and 
years. It is very important when a person with immense talent, 
resources, and fame tries to give the gift of creativity back to people 
who would otherwise never have a chance to fulfill their own God-given 
abilities. We honor him for that today and thank him.

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Redford and 
presented the medal.]

    Throughout a lifetime as an author and illustrator, Maurice Sendak 
has singlehandedly revolutionized children's literature. In works

such as ``Where The Wild Things Are,'' he has created heroes and adventures 
that have captured the imagination of generations of young readers. His 
books have helped children to explore and resolve their feelings of anger, 
boredom, fear, frustration, and jealousy. Hillary and I read ``Where The 
Wild Things Are'' alone to our daughter scores and scores of times. And I 
can tell you, he helped me to explore my feelings of anger, boredom, fear, 
frustration, and jealousy. [Laughter] His books have become staples of 
children's libraries and family bookshelves. They will always be a beloved 
part of our national culture, and they have done a great deal to help our 
children find their own imaginations.

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Sendak and presented 
the medal.]

    We were having a picture--Mr. Sendak said that, ``This is my first 
grown-up award.'' [Laughter]
    I feel that I should sing about our next honoree--but I won't; 
relax. [Laughter] Stephen Sondheim is one of our Nation's finest

[[Page 26]]

composers and lyricists. Not only are his words and melodies timeless, 
appealing to all generations, they mirror the history and experiences we 
share as Americans. His work is indelibly etched on our national 
cultural landscape. Who among us can't rattle off some words from ``West 
Side Story,'' ``A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum,'' 
``Gypsy,'' ``A Little Night Music'' or ``Sweeney Todd''? Decade after 
decade, Steven Sondheim continues to delight audiences here and around 
the world with his treasured lyrics. He has won five Tony Awards, was 
awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1993, received the Kennedy Center Honor 
for Lifetime Achievement in 1993. But he has given us more than we could 
ever give to him.
    Steven Sondheim.

[The President and the First Lady congratu-lated Mr. Sondheim and 
presented the medal.]

    In less than 30 years, the Boys Choir of Harlem has become one of 
the world's finest singing ensembles. The Choir gives 100 concerts every 
year and has performed at the White House, the United Nations, and all 
around the world. These accomplishments would be enough to merit a 
medal, but the Boys Choir of Harlem has also changed and saved lives. 
Over the years it has recognized and nurtured the God-given potential of 
thousands of young people whose talents might otherwise have gone 
unnoticed. The 550 boys and girls who attend the Choir Academy of Harlem 
learn much more than how to sing on key and in harmony. They learn that 
through discipline, hard work, and cooperation, anything is possible and 
dreams do come true. I again say they are a powerful, shining symbol to 
all the young people of this country about what they can become if the 
rest of us will just do our part to give them the chance.
    I now have the honor of introducing the recipients of the Charles 
Frankel Prize.
    Poet, professor of poems, and activist for poetry, Rita Dove helps 
us to find the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of our lives. She 
has used her gift for language, her penetrating insight, and her 
sensitivity to the world around her to mine the richness of the African-
American experience as well as the experience of everyday living. Winner 
of the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 and recently Poet Laureate of the United 
States, she is considered one of her finest poets, and she truly is a 
life force of poetry.

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Ms. Dove and presented 
the prize.]

    Best-selling author, historian, and political commentator Doris 
Kearns Goodwin has enriched our understanding and appreciation of the 
people and institutions that have shaped American government, American 
history, and American politics. Her great gift is to tell the story of 
America through rigorous scholarship, engaging prose, and anecdotes and 
details that bring alive major events and political figures. She has 
worked in the White House, taught at Harvard, written books about 
President Johnson, the Kennedys, and the Roosevelts. Her latest work 
``No Ordinary Time,'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1994. And I can tell you 
it made the details of the White House come alive. I actually had the 
book, walking from room to room, imagining what it all looked like all 
those long years ago. In that book alone, she did a great service to the 
United States in helping us to understand our history, our leaders, and 
what this country is really all about.

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Ms. Goodwin and 
presented the prize.]

    Political philosopher, public servant, builder of civil society 
Daniel Kemmis has dedicated his life to reawakening America's sense of 
community, of citizenship, of working together for the common good. In 
his books and lectures and during his tenure in politics, he has spread 
the gospel of community involvement and explored the roots and true 
meaning of our democracy. He is a welcome and convincing voice against 
cynicism and social divisiveness. As we look to the next century, with 
ours the strongest, most vibrant democracy in the world, but 
increasingly more diverse, the question of whether we will learn to 
identify ourselves in terms of our obligations and our opportunities in 
the larger community, to learn to work together across the lines that 
divide us with mutual respect for the common good is perhaps the 
greatest question facing the American peo

[[Page 27]]

ple. Daniel Kemmis has helped to make sure we give the right answer.

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Kemmis and presented 
the prize.]

    Arturo Madrid is pioneering the field of Latino studies in the 
United States. He's been an advocate for expanding educational 
opportunities for Hispanic students all across America. As professor of 
modern Spanish and Latin American literature and founder of the Tomas 
Rivera Center, the Nation's leading think-tank on Latino issues, he has 
helped Americans discern and appreciate the impact of Hispanic life on 
American culture and literature. An entire generation of Latino 
academics at the Nation's top universities owe some part of their 
success to Arturo Madrid's work. And now as we see Americans of Hispanic 
heritage, the fastest growing group of our fellow citizens, the full 
impact of his work is bound to be felt in the future. So we thank him 
for what he has done and for what he has done that will be felt in 
generations yet to come.

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Madrid and presented 
the prize.]

    Bill Moyers has received about every award there is in his field, 
quite simply because he has proved himself a giant in broadcast 
journalism. For more than 25 years, he has used the power of television 
to tackle some of the most difficult and complex issues facing our 
Nation, to explore the world of ideas and to help millions of viewers 
better understand each other and the society in which we live. At a time 
in which the media often is used to truncate, oversimplify, and distort 
ideas in a way that divide rather than enlighten, the work of Bill 
Moyers' life is truly and profoundly important and encouraging. Though 
he is known to most Americans now as a broadcaster, his career has been 
as wide-ranging as his documentaries. He has been a newspaper reporter 
and a publisher, a campaign aide, a deputy director for the Peace Corps, 
and when he was still just a child, Presidential press secretary to 
President Johnson. Most important to me, he is a living rebuke to 
everybody's preconceptions about Baptist preachers. [Laughter] He is 
truly a 20th century renaissance man.

[The President and the First Lady congratulated Mr. Moyers and presented 
the prize.]

    When I gave him the award, he said, ``Now they'll make us pay for 
that one.'' [Laughter]
    Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to join me in giving one more hand 
to every one of these outstanding Americans. They are terrific. 
[Applause] And now, appropriately, our program will close with The Boys 
Choir of Harlem's rendition of ``Amazing Grace.''

Note: The President spoke at 1 p.m. in the Mellon Auditorium at the 
Department of Commerce.